The other day, one of my readers asked what my dreams were for the future and I thought it would be nice to share the answer in a post instead of a comment.  Before I share my dreams for the future, I’m going to share a bit about the past.

Many of you know my story.  In short, my business was started out of the desire to add a little income to the family budget.  I didn’t have any big dreams attached to it.  I just wanted to make a couple hundred dollars a month to help with some bills.  I’ve never considered myself an entrepreneur or a designer, writer, photographer…any of that.  I was just a stay-at-home mom who wanted to do something more than what I was doing, but I wanted a job that would allow me to stay home with my boys.

About a year into my business, I started this blog and my business shifted from a decorative painting & mural business to a refurbished furniture & antiques business.  Later, it sort of morphed into a blogging, freelance writing, book writing sort of business.   When my friend and graphics designer, Laura, was working on the branding for my business, she asked a series of questions about my goals and dreams.  I wish I had taken notes during that conversation!  I do remember some of the goals and I recall feeling like they were pretty “pie-in-the-sky” at the time and I felt like I needed to qualify all of them by saying things like, “…this is waaaay down the road” and “…it would be really, really cool if this happened, but it’s just a dream, not really a goal.”

Every single goal I set out for myself was either met or completely blown away.  I don’t say that in any sort of prideful way.  I say that in more of a flabbergasted, dumbfounded sort of way.  Remember that I felt like these goals were long shots at best.

Here’s what I know…

I love writing my blog.  I want that to continue to grow and I want to get better at it.  I want to make more video tutorial series and I want to provide even more inspiration and information on decorating and refurbishing furniture.  I’m mulling over some new ideas and I’m looking forward to sharing them.

I love print work.  I really enjoyed putting a book together and I like the work I do for HGTV.com and Cottages & Bungalows.  I want to continue to improve my photography, writing style and DIY skills.  I helped with the styling on the most recent photo shoot in my house and I LOVED it.  I hope to get to use my styling skills more in the future, but I’m totally open to how that transpires.  Also, Country Living magazine is one of my favorites and I would love to have my blog or home or something featured in it some day.

I love being a vendor at Lucketts.  There was a time I thought I would have to shut down that part of my business, but when I took a break from it while I was working on the book, I really missed it.  I love shopping for things to resell and putting my stamp on them.  I love working on new pieces.  I really love interacting with other inspiring and creative vendors there and getting to meet with my readers and clients.  I want to get much better at the retail side of my business.  I’ve been in “reaction mode” since I started selling things and I want to get more efficient and on top of things.  I’m not sure how I’m going to do that, but I want to get better at being a vendor.  I hope to be able to go on bigger shopping trips, like to the endless yard sale, Brimfield, Junk Bonanza and…France.  (I am dreaming here, right?)

I love the idea of creating my own line some day.  A line of what?  I’m not sure.  Maybe furniture?  Accessories?  Fabric?  Again, I’m really open to how that idea transpires.  I do have a few specific ideas, but I’ll keep those on the DL for the moment.  I’m also really excited about the possibility of collaborating with someone else, but I have no idea who that is or what we would collaborate on.  I just like the idea of it.  This one feels most “pie-in-the-sky” to me right now, but so did the dream of writing a book…

I love encouraging others.  I really hope my book does well and that the success opens the door for opportunities to speak and/or teach workshops.  This blog has brought out a passion in me to encourage and inspire other women in DIY and their everyday lives and it would be so fun to do that in person sometimes.  I don’t want to become a jet-setter or road-warrior or whatever.  I don’t want a Miss Mustard Seed tour bus.  (That thought made me giggle.)  I just think it would be fun to speak/teach on occasion.

I have lots of other little dreams like laying hardwood floors in the addition of our home, successfully growing hydrangea bushes in our yard and hiring someone to do my laundry (kidding), but you don’t need to hear all about those.

I hope sharing some of my dreams publicly will keep me moving in the right direction and I hope they will be inspiring to you as well.  It’s OK to have big dreams, little dreams and everything in between.  I just think it’s important to dream and work in the direction of those dreams.

What are some of your dreams for the future?  Do you feel like they’re totally crazy?  Are you more afraid of success or failure?